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Boulder revels in return of high-stakes football during Broncos playoff game

By Joe Rubino Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
01/12/2013 07:23:19 PM MST

Updated:
01/12/2013 09:30:58 PM MST

Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning walks off the field after fumbling the ball against the Baltimore Ravens in the third quarter of an AFC divisional playoff NFL football game, Saturday. (Jack Dempsey)

In the town where football on Saturdays has been missing its magic for quite some time, the atmosphere at Boulder bars and restaurants for the Denver Broncos divisional match-up with the Baltimore Ravens felt like a flashback to a time long ago.

Game photos

Fans across Boulder were treated to a double-overtime thriller, though, in the end, the Broncos would lose 35-38 on a Justin Tucker 47-yard field goal.

At Harpo's Sports Grill, 2860 Arapaho Ave., the noise on a critical Ravens third down play in the fourth quarter may have had some of the fans seated in the dining room believing they were in the stands at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

"It feels awesome," Broncos fan Gaby Larrea said of rooting for a team that, up until about 6:45 p.m. Saturday had legitimate championship hopes. "I'm a (University of Colorado) alumna so it stinks that our team stinks, but the Broncos make it all feel better."

Larrea and boyfriend Charlie McCash said they arrived at Harpo's at about 1:30 p.m. to watch the game with friends and described the atmosphere as "loud, out of control and fun."

"I think it's the best sports bar in Boulder," McCash said of Harpo's. "Best energy."

The orange and blue faithful who took in Saturday's thrilling game at The West End Tavern may have disagreed with McCash.

Boulder resident Nathan Dopp watched the game with friends at the West End, located at 926 Pearl St., because he said it " has the best food and is the best place to watch a football game in Boulder."

Dopp said he moved to Boulder in 1976, and watched quarterback Craig Morton carry the Broncos to their first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history in 1977. On Saturday, he said he was hopeful the Broncos would take another step to the team's seventh Super Bowl appearance.

Brittney Drinkert was among the Broncos' fans who watched the game with Dopp Saturday. She had an added personal reason for rooting for the Broncos and its future NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning: she said she recently did some interior design work for the man she referred to as "PeyPey."

"I really want to go to New Orleans to see Peyton," she said, referring to the site of this year's upcoming Super Bowl, though it was not to be.

On the opposite end of the Pearl Street Mall at The Lazy Dog Sports Bar & Grill, 1346 Pearl St., a standing-room only crowd cheered, booed and hissed loudly enough that one could reasonably have assumed whether the game was going well for the Broncos based on noise alone.

Twenty-two-year-old Alejandro Arango said that he knew the Lazy Dog would be a great place to watch Saturday's game because he could hear the screams of fans cheering Bronco Trindon Holliday's first quarter punt return from a block away as he walked to the bar.

"After a 1-11 season, it feels good," the CU senior said, referencing the Buffs wreck of a 2012 season. "It feels good to root for winning."

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